OPEN YOUR LOCUSTREAM MIC !

Locus Sonus invites people to participate in the Locustream project, a network of open-microphones worldwide distributed.

Contact and Info : soundmap(at)locusonus.org

intro

Locustream was launched in 2006 as a prototype and a research experimentation on networked sound spaces. It is one of many sound art projects realized by Locus Sonus on the questions of art forms and networked fluxes.
The principle of the online Locustream system is based on a streaming server and devices which relay local microphonic sound captures maintained by field recordists and phonographers, such as a group of listening manufacturers. Local sound environments, soundscapes, ambiances and sonic "scenes" are streamed to our server controlling various apparatuses of distance listening : through the on-line SoundMap interface, the on-line listening sequencer (Tardis), art installations in space (Tuner, Promenade), etc. These artistic experimentations and realizations open a series of questions related to various aspects which overlap the common approaches of soundart and musical composition : live conveyance of sound (practices and technics), manufacture of listenings (acoustics, sound diffusion, broadcast, Internet auditoriums), several simultaneous roles (audience, listener, performer, bearer of listenings, investigator, etc.), social commitment & involvement (to investigate and to 'phonograph', to collect, to probe, to uncover, to plot, to slow down, to pay and propose attention, etc.) and social immersion & modifications (reverberation, repercussion, fiction, 'folklore' and ambiance, etc.), updates of general concepts related to an archeology of distance listening practices, and the acoustic architectures & sound spatialization (conches, tracks/wakes/grooves, proprioperception, ubiquity, tele- and panacousticon, ...) and so on. We discover these experimentations can question and collect several aspects and viewpoints on the everyday presence & practices of sound spaces.One basis of this project is to consider these audio streams like (rough or unadulterated) materials for various & subsequent sound projects and installations initiated by us (Locus Sonus) and also by other artists and collectives (WLP - World Listening Project). It could become an extraordinary resource for listeners, for nourishing other local sound systems you want to develop, for developing listeners' practices and systems, and for initiating sound studies and research as well. The main axis on which we are now working are Networked Sonic Spaces, Field Spatialization and Distance Listening.

systems

The process of opening a web-mic is very easy and swift. Our streaming server can transmit more than one thousand simultaneous open-mics. Locus Sonus maintains the Locustream technical system and provides the required softwares (and hardwares) in order to keep (a)live as long as possible each microphone you open. The whole system is automated : online registration, Locustream mailing-list subscription, special streaming patches & applications in order to automatically connect to the server and be recognized by our installations and on-line projects connected to the Locustream microphones database. Since 2008 we develop an autonomous small Linux-based PC dedicated to the project (LocuStreamBox) with an embedded microphone (LocusMic) : the installation of this streambox on each location of sound emission & capture provides the streams' stability and continuity. The objective is to offer continuous (non-stop) audio streams all the time. Let's imagine a constellation of simultaneous live "phonographies" from different locations all around the world, available to be constantly listened to, while reconstituting and reconstructing distances.

By participating in the Locustream project you can "manufacture" listening experiences for others. You become an author and a sound explorer for listeners.

Choose and download the requested resources :

public shows

Next presentations of our current Locustream projects will be shown in various festivals and events on next months. By being a "Locustreamer", you'll be informed at time in connection with these presentations and also of the presentations made by other artists.